Within minutes of Skyler submitting the paperwork, we had full access to the investigation. Athyna reviewed and summarized the information in seconds, then passed it out to the rest of our small group.

  “Is the government usually this accommodating?” Agnes asked, surprised, as she combed through the file.

  “Absolutely not. Getting information on an ongoing Cascadian investigation is usually like trying to draw blood from a stone,” Skyler replied, “But in this case, we had a couple of things going for us. First of all, the madam is highly respected in Cascadia. She is frequently involved in government projects and has donated a lot of money to encourage the government to investigate Mr. Tanaka. Even with all that government backing, the security forces are typically fairly tight-lipped until an investigation is over.”

  “So why did they turn it all over this time?”

  “Because I’m one of the best lawyers in the city and won’t stop until I get what I want!” Skyler announced proudly. “The fact that Reina and I are now samurai, with a vested interest in this case, probably helped too. Someone probably figured we’d be able to help.”

  “There’s nothing here! The security footage is blank, and these witness statements are worthless. ‘I was hit from behind’ and ‘The cells were breached between my rounds.’ ”

  I finished flipping through the information and closed the file, leaning back in my chair. “It was an extremely professional team, even better than the Savior Medical Technologies team that tried to penetrate our R&D building last year. They had the tech to bypass the entire security system and the skills to get all the way in and out without being seen or killing anyone. Impressive.”

  “Reina, darling, while I can understand why you respect these people, I’d really like to find them. The sooner someone drags your father back here, where he belongs, the better,” my mother grumbled.

  “Well… whoever did this was in the system for a while. The courthouse is fairly busy, so they had to wait long enough to get clean camera footage to loop. In addition to that, they managed to get through high-security doors that were isolated from the network. That means they had to clone the keys from active security staff. Athyna I know you and Skyler only have Class I Network Intrusion, but are you able to hack into the network and look for traces?”

  “Already done,” a musical voice replied out of the conference phone in the middle of the table. “Although the building does have Protector grade network encryption, it’s not being managed by any sort of AI. That makes it significantly easier for active programs to penetrate.”

  Most of the room turned and looked at the conference phone, then back at Skyler and me.

  “Oh, right. I don’t think we’ve actually introduced you. Everyone, this is my protector AI Athyna,” Skyler announced.

  “Nice to meet you!” Athyna announced through the speaker.

  “And my AI is Artymis. Why don’t you say hello?” I added

  “Hello everyone,” a nearly identical voice announced a second later.

  “Nice to meet you too,” my mother replied hesitantly. “You’re the girls… protector AI?”

  “Correct, we’re quantum-linked Class XIV protector AIs, designed to assist a designated Vanguard,” Athyna replied.

  My mother glanced at me. “They’re twins,” I explained. “Extremely smart, extraterrestrial AI twins that assist Skyler and me.”

  “Well, thank you for keeping an eye on the girls. I appreciate it,” my mother announced.

  “It’s been our pleasure,” Athyna replied. “I wish I had better news for you. I’ve scrubbed the network and there are very few traces, but it’s not enough for me to create a profile. All I can tell you right now is whoever did this had access to protector-grade tech but they weren’t a Vanguard.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  “How can you be sure?” Skyler asked.

  “An AI would never have left any traces. Even if they wanted to hide the fact that their Vanguard was involved, they wouldn’t have left behind this much data,” Athyna announced proudly.

  “So, there’s really nothing? They’re just gone?” my mother growled. “I can’t accept that!”

  “Just because there’s no trace here doesn’t mean they’ve completely disappeared. Nearly every inch of this city is monitored by video surveillance. Although the intruders scrubbed all traces from this network, I’ve already identified the probable escape vehicle on the surrounding networks,” Athyna reported.

  “Even though I’m sure the investigators would get around to checking sooner or later, it’s standard procedure. Please forward all this information to the investigations team. They were nice enough to give us access to the files, so I’m sure they’d appreciate a little quid pro quo,” Skyler suggested. “Can we see what you found?”

  A section of the roof pulled back, and a mini projector lowered down before beaming an image on the wall. The picture was a little blown out, but it showed a plain black hover van approaching the court house. “There’s no camera pointed directly at the back entrance, but this van entered the area right before the assault. Afterwards, it not only tried to take advantage of the nearby camera dead spots, but it also activated some sort of low-level ECM to disrupt the nearest camera networks. Unfortunately for them, the ECM has a fairly limited range, and I’ve been able to track them using more remote cameras. Here is their route.”

  The display changed to a map of the city. A small red line slowly zigzagged its way north, ending right at the edge of the city, near the waterfront. “Although I’ve been able to track them to their final location, we do have a slight problem…” Athyna said hesitantly.

  My mother sat up straight. “What? Did they switch vehicles?”

  “Not exactly…” The image switched again, this time to an old, dilapidated warehouse next to the waterfront, engulfed in flames. “The blaze started immediately after the van entered, and no vehicles or people have left the area.”

  “Shouldn’t that area be off-limits right now? It’s right next to the wall, following an aquatic attack? Where are the PMCs and security forces?” I hissed.

  “It appears they used blind spots to sneak past the sentries, and the ECM helped them slip through the radar. I’ve informed the authorities, and they’re sending both fire crews and investigators to the location.”

  “What insanity is this? Who would kidnap a wanted criminal, only to burn them alive?” Agnes mumbled.

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out,” I declared, pushing back from the table.

  “What? You’re going to the warehouse?” my mother asked.

  “I don’t see why not. I’m sure the emergency teams wouldn’t mind having a couple of samurai on standby nearby, since they’re so close to an active combat zone. They get to put out the fire, while we get to poke around a little bit,” I replied. “You stay here, and we’ll update you as soon as we know anything.”

  My mother bit her lip, then slowly nodded. “Be careful out there.”

  “Always!” I chirped before jogging to the door and holding it open for Skyler.

  “What do you think is going on? Someone with a grudge?” Skyler asked as we stormed away from the meeting room.

  “Honestly? If they wanted my father dead, they would have left his body in the cell. I don’t think they’d drag him halfway across the city only to burn him in a fire,” I replied seriously. “We’ll need to look inside that building if we want to know more.”

  The two of us really didn’t say anything else as we made our way out to the car or on the drive to the wharfs. The local PMCs had repositioned to quarantine the area and protect the fire crew while they put out the fire.

  “I don’t think that was a natural fire,” I exclaimed as we made our approach. Despite the fire starting in a metal-clad building, the entire place was a mess. The walls and roof at the front had completely melted and collapsed, revealing a burned-out van, while the back of the building still smoldered.

  No one tried to stop us as Skyler brought her car down between the PMCs and the fire department, although representatives of both ran out to meet us.

  “Sargent Mitchell, Second Black Riders,” the PMC commander reported as soon as he ran up. “How can we help you?”

  “We’re actually here to take a look at the warehouse,” I replied, approaching the man while Skyler moved towards the fire chief. “Any trouble on the water this morning?”

  “No ma’am. Not since the rest of the samurai showed up last night.”

  Looking over his shoulder, I noticed that the Starchasser had been joined by three additional vessels. All three were smaller. One looked like a steampunk sailing ship, while the others looked more like pleasure craft. All three probably packed more firepower than an entire tank column.

  “Alright. My partner and I are here to investigate the warehouse, but don’t hesitate to call us if you need us.”

  “Thank you, ma’am,” the man replied, shooting a crisp salute before running back to the lines.

  By the time I walked over to Skyler, she’d finished with the fire chief. “The fire chief recommends we don’t enter the building, but he’s not going to stop us if we want to try.”

  “No point in risking ourselves we’ll check out the van, then use your drones,” I said.

  “Good plan,” Skyler muttered. She walked over and popped the trunk, releasing a couple of scout drones, before the two of us wandered towards the burnt-out wreck. The fire-fighters gave us a wide berth as we entered the frontal section.

  The van was a complete wreck. Most of the paneling had been melted by the extreme heat, making it easy for me to stare into the back. It was charred, but clear of bodies and debris, which meant they probably moved my father further inside.

  Stepping back, I gestured to Skyler. The three tiny scout drones hovering around her head zipped forward and slipped into the wreckage.

  “I don’t see anything yet, no bodies, no shelters, nothing,” Skyler mumbled, her eyes closed. “Wait… there’s something… What is this? A swimming pool?”

  I quickly pulled up the feed Skyler shared and took a look. Buried under part of the roof and built into the concrete floor was a pool of water. The drone hovered around the little corner piece, trying to get a good angle, but it couldn’t.

  “What the hell is that?” I hissed.

  {Arty: Considering how far we are from the harbor, I suspect we’re looking at a hidden sub dock.}

  {Athy: This makes things a little more complicated.}

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